veteran

The term veteran in ancient Rome designated a soldier at the end of his service, in whatever corps he had served (praetorian or urban cohorts, legions, auxiliary army, navy). Length of service is a concept that evolves with the same history of organization of Rome's army and within it the figure of the miles. The veteran, initially, is a volunteer soldier; he arms himself at his own expense and remains in service for the duration of the military campaign for which he was recruited. Later with the organization of the army and the creation of a real social and legal subject, "the professional soldier," the duration of service would also be fixed according to the military corps to which he belonged. History It is in 107 BC that a significant turning point happened: Gaius Marius carries out an extraordinary enlistment without regard to the census requirements of the recruits, enlisting proletarian volunteers. Thus a new, more direct relationship is established between soldier and general and, correspondingly, with the granting of rewards for veterans on discharge (an earlier occurrence took place with Scipio Africanus), the definition of a phenomenology with political implications and with repercussions on the territory and its organization. Indeed, in the late republic, in the climate of civil wars, generals granted their soldiers, as a reward for service, plots of land often confiscated as acts of vindication against the opposing faction. It is worth recalling the concessions to veterans of Pompey, Caesar, Antony, and Octavian.